Hankook gets active in Aussie motorsports

MACQUARIE PARK, Australia (July 21, 2015) — Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. is expanding its international motorsports program, agreeing to become the designated race tire supplier for two racing series debuting in Australia this summer — the Sidchrome Extreme Rallycross series and the CAMS Jayco Formula 4 Championship.

The rallycross series will debut Sept. 4-5 while the Formula 4 series debuted July 10 as a support series for Australia's popular V8 Supercars Championship.

The partners did not disclose financial details of their agreements.

The Sidchrome Extreme Rallycross series will feature three classes competing at each event, with the Rallycross Supercar Lites — purpose-built, all-wheel drive race cars producing over 310 horsepower — as the main attraction.

Rallycross combines the best aspects of traditional stage rallying and circuit racing and puts competitors on a track of mixed surfaces comprising both paved sections and gravel. There are two other premier rallycross series running — the Red Bull Global Rallycross active in North America and the World Rallycross Championship that's active predominantly in Europe.

The other classes in Australia will be 4-wheel-drive turbo and 2-wheel-drive categories.

Hankook Tyre Australia Pty. Ltd. will supply all competitors with a control tire, the Hankook Ventus Z213 in size 200/625R17. The tire maker said this is a spec tire under Federation Internatonal de l'Automobile (FIA) guidelines imported specifically for rallycross. Hankook's contract is for three seasons.

“This is the kind of spectacle Australian motorsport needs,” said Hankook Tyre Australia Motorsport Manager Dean Evans. “Rallycross is undoubtedly the next big thing in global motorsport, and now that we have an Australian version, Hankook wanted to be a part of it from the start — and we had the right tire to support it.”

The series' first season will feature seven race weekends stretching through until February 2016.

The CAMS Jayco Formula 4 Championship is the seventh F4 championship being held globally. Formula 4 — single-seat, open-wheel racers powered by 160-hp, 4-cylinder engines — is a relatively new race category that the FIA considers the first rung on the ladder to Formula 1.

The inaugural Australian championship will feature seven race weekends, running as a companion/support category for the V8 Supercars championship.

Hankook's supply contract with the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) runs for three seasons. The company said it was selected because of its success in Europe as the tire supplier for the European F3 series.

Hankook said its Ventus slick is the same size as that used in the British MSA F4 and the European F4 series.

Hankook and CAMS have chosen a Super Soft slick version of the Ventus F200 tire —size 180/550R13 front and 240/570R13 rear — for the predominantly winter F4 calendar.

The winning driver will receive up to $250,000 in financial support to assist in the progression to the next appropriate development pathway for that driver, as well as the opportunity of a Formula 3 test with one of Europe's top teams.

The second-, third- and fourth-placed drivers will be given the opportunity of a test session with a V8 Supercar development series team.

In Australia/New Zealand, Hankook also supports nine other racing series that use control tires. Among them are the NZ SuperTourers and national and state-based categories.

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